March 11, 2010 - 12:24pm
Need some advise, please.
Hey all,
So I was wondering how many of you are home bakers that sell their goods?
I've been REALLY thinking of doing this and need advise.
baking makes me happy, and now that I no longer work in a restaurant I find I miss it VERY much!
I would love to be able to bake for people still, and it would be nice to be making money at it!
Can you give me some pointers? How do you find customers? How much do you charge, % above materials cost?
How much of a variety of items do you sell?
Any other info would be AWESOME as well!
Thanks!
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Hi Candice,
You first need to determine whether your state allows you to sell home baked goods without a license and without approval by your local health department.
Here's one link on cottage laws.
If your state is listed, then you should read the relevant law so you can comply with any requirements. You should also educate yourself on what taxes you may have to pay on income received to avoid unpleasant surprises from the IRS.
If your state is not listed, then you need to contact your local health department and find out what steps you have to take in order to sell to the public.
This is a pretty popular question here and if you search TFL, am sure you'll come across lots of information on the topic.
Good luck!
Hi Candice, it would seem to me that to find customers you start with family and friends. I don't sell any of my bread, but I do often post pictures of my better loaves on Facebook. I get asked often, "do you deliver" or "where's my sample loaf". I end up giving away more bread than I eat myself. It would be a natural progression to offer to take orders and supply bread on at least a small basis.
I know a guy that started that way, he told his friends he would be baking on a Friday so they had to get orders in by the Wednesday before. It has been a succesful endevour and now bakes on Thursday and Friday.
Good luck with your venture,
Martyn
thanks! I'm in Canada though, not the US, got any links for up here? or what exactly would I google?
I found one link on the topic:
http://www.justanswer.com/questions/2lgo4-i-am-thinking-of-selling-custom-baked-goods-out-of-my-home
Don't know how helpful that is because the laws may vary from province to province.
Perhaps a call to your local health department would aim you in the right direction.